Page 160 of Blood of the Stars

They settled on the coast, pulling out their knives and starting in on the messy but rewarding work of gutting the fish. Felk attempted to help, but he found the raw fish just as tempting as the cooked, so most of what he prepared ended up in his mouth. As much as Velden’s face wrinkled with distaste over the task, he was faster than anyone else, already separating the flesh of a fish and running his knife along its backbone before Aeliana had finished slicing another one’s belly.

Aeliana’s dagger was less suited to the job, but after taking the weapon from Gaeren, she refused to use anything else. Every time she felt the groove of its hilt or caught the glimmer of the daisy on its pommel, she thought of him and the sacrifice he’d made to help them escape. It felt good to sit in her confusion over his need to protect her even while he was supposed to hate her. The longer she wrestled with it, the more it felt like she could someday figure it out, that the opposing feelings could be parsed out and defined enough to maybe let go of the painful parts.

Even Sylmar had grudgingly admitted Gaeren’s word had been true after their escape. They owed Gaeren everything because he’d given them this one last chance to reach Mayvus before Summer Solstice.

“What legend do I get today?” Aeliana asked, not bothering to hide her eagerness.

Velden wasn’t as skilled of a storyteller as Jasperus, but he’d traveled farther and experienced far more, making his stories and perspective more interesting. Most of Velden’s stories centered around his time in the navy, but occasionally he’d pull out a story from the Sayhleens, something full of history and folklore that no one else knew.

“Have you heard of Lady Merinnia?” he asked.

“Not yet.” She winced as she sliced along her own fish’s bone, wondering how the two members of their party most squeamish about killing animals got stuck with this part of the food preparation.

“Ah, well, when my mother last visited her family, Lady Merinnia was the Seer of Sayhla.” His eyes took on his storytelling glint.

“You can’t believe half of what he says,” Kendalyhn said, gathering the few fillets they’d already set aside.

“I never do, but it’s still fun to listen.”

Velden gave a mock frown, pausing to flick a stray fish eye in Aeliana’s direction. As Kendalyhn returned to the cookfire, Holm coaxed it to life.

“I’ll have you know that Lady Merinnia is basically queen of the Sayhleen, if the noble group ever had such a thing.” Velden tilted his chin to peer down his nose at his audience.

Felk raised a fish to his lips, and Velden grimaced.

“Seer, priestess, queen—does the title matter if it’s the same outcome?” Aeliana asked. “It seems people are always looking to rule over each other.”

Velden shrugged. “Maybe people are always looking for someone to lead them. It doesn’t always work out well, but the desire to follow a leader isn’t wrong. Good leaders just happen to be rare treasures.”

“And I suppose Lady Merinnia is one of those rare treasures.”

He bobbed his head back and forth. “Yes and no. Her wisdom surpasses that of any other mortal, but she spends so much time sifting souls, examining the future, that she can’t really rule the way you would expect a leader to. It’s like her body remains here, but she’s already left this world.”

Aeliana raised her eyebrows, his words carrying eerie undertones that reminded her of the few things Gaeren had shared about Enla. “She sounds vulnerable.”

Velden laughed. “She’s not a dragon or winex needing rescuing.”

Felk frowned as if trying to determine whether he’d been insulted. Aeliana stuck her tongue out at Velden as Holm came to collect more fillets for the fire. Cyrus sat beside them, joining in to gut more fish after caring for his and Aeliana’s horses. The familiar rhythm of making camp at night put Aeliana at ease, allowing her to ignore the danger and unknowns they rode toward each day.

“My mother went to Lady Merinnia once,” Velden continued. “It’s a rare thing to seek out the Seer, often a life-or-death scenario. Some return with a peace, moving forward confidently in life, affirmed by the Seer. Others return with a madness, unable to speak about what they asked, why it went wrong. Some don’t return at all.”

“She’s as bad as the sprites,” Cyrus muttered.

“Yes,” Velden said in surprise, pointing his knife at Cyrus. “Exactly. People seek her out when they reach a point of desperation. I’d like to say the outcome isn’t always as terrible as it is with the sprites, but my mother made it sound like it could be far worse.”

“So why did she go to her?” Aeliana asked, desperate to steer the conversation away from the sprites once more.

Velden shrugged. “She found a silver fish that took her to a world of men and women who only have feet instead of fins, skin instead of scales.”

“That’s when she found the starbridge,” Aeliana breathed the word out.

He nodded. “She was drawn to the world and its people. To one man in particular.” He smiled faintly. “Though I’m not sure why. My father was a bit like Gaeren. Too sure of himself. Too interested in himself.”

Aeliana laughed even though she no longer found the description apt. “Now I know which qualities you get from your father.”

“His good looks for sure.” Velden winked. “Though my mother was a beauty even among Sayhleen. Reeled my father in like a siren.”

“So Lady Merinnia must have seen good things in your mother’s future,” Aeliana said.

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